Back in the fall we began to notice something about our house. Not the whole house, just the upstairs part. It started off just barely noticeable. Then it got worse and worse. Until finally we could hardly stand it. There was no denying it. Our house stunk. More specifically, our upstairs stunk and it was beginning to drift downstairs. So my wife went on patrol. She traced the stench to a closet upstairs—and then hollered for me. It turned out to be a little tiny mouse that was dead underneath some things in that closet. I have no idea how so much stink could come out of something that small, but it did. It did because it was dead. And dead things stink. Death produces an odor that is like nothing else in this world. In our text today, Paul starts by describing the way the Ephesian Christians were before they were saved. He said they were dead. They were dead, but Paul rejoiced in the fact they had turned from death to life. Just like the stench of death sticks in our nostrils and makes us turn away, I want us to turn away from death this morning. I want each of us to smell that stench of death and allow Christ to bring us to new life in Him. In order to do that we’re going to first look at three symptoms of death, and then we’ll look at three qualities of life. The first symptom of death is a dead nature. Look with me in verse 1

A dead nature. Notice that the words, “hath He quickened” are in italics in the King James. That means that they were added by the translators. Look at the force of the verse without those words added: “And you, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” Paul isn’t mincing words here. He’s telling these people exactly how it is. Before Christ had saved them, they had a dead nature. Notice that he says, “you who were dead IN trespasses and sins.” He didn’t say they were dead BECAUSE of trespasses and sins. Now, I’m very sure that they had committed sin. Everyone commits sin. We have all told a lie at one time or another in our lives. Oh, you don’t remember? Here let me remind you—“Honey do I look fat in these pants?” The bottom line is we have all committed sin. But that’s not what Paul is talking about here. Yes, committing sin is a bad thing. But that’s not the heart of the problem. The heart of the problem goes much deeper than our actions. The heart of the problem is that we have a sin nature. We are IN trespasses and sins. We are in trespasses and sins from birth, because we are born with a sin nature. A person lies because in his heart he is a liar—not the other way around. A person steals because in his heart he is a thief. And we sin because in our very nature, we are sinners. Dead in trespasses and sins. By using the words trespasses and sins, Paul wasn’t marking off two distinct categories. He was using two words that mean nearly the same thing. And he’s using them together to point out the total scope of our depraved and wretched nature. Totally depraved from birth. Before Christ, our lives reek with the stench of a dead nature. That is the first symptom of death—a dead nature. The second symptom of death is a dead walk. Look in verse 2.